1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a collapsible basketball goal support structure.
2. The Relevant Technology
Basketball is one of the most popular recreational sports among people of all ages. Most cities and counties sponsor recreational and instructional leagues where players as young as five and six years old can play. The days when basketball was confined to the gymnasium or schoolyard have long since passed. Today, the game of basketball is played anywhere there is a generally flat playing surface and a place to mount a backboard and rim.
More and more people are mounting basketball goals on their property. Many homes mount a basketball goal system on the garage or on a pole. Typically, these systems are located near a driveway or patio. However, an increasing number of houses have an outdoor concrete or asphalt pad dedicated solely for use as a basketball or sport court, and some homes include an indoor basketball court. Furthermore, those skilled in the art have developed portable basketball goal systems that can be moved from one playing surface to another, or even to an alternative location for storage.
Because basketball is usually played by people of all ages and abilities, many basketball systems have been developed with an adjustable basketball goal support structure. These adjustable goal support structures allow people of all ages and sizes to enjoy the sport of basketball because the basketball goal can be positioned at a height lower than the standard height of ten feet. Similarly, the adjustability of basketball goals has been especially beneficial to children. Many younger children simply do not have the strength necessary to shoot and make a basket at the standard height of ten feet. Other children have had to heave or hurl the basketball at the higher goal in order to attempt making a basket and, in so doing, typically develop improper shooting skills. Additionally, basketball goal support structures that are not height-adjustable sometimes frustrate children and cause them to lose their confidence because the goals are simply too high for them to consistently make a basket. This frustration sometimes causes children to ultimately give up the game and look for some other activity.
With the increasing popularity of basketball has come an increased demand for basketball equipment such as decorative backboards, support poles, nets, balls and complete basketball goal systems. Many retail outlets, department stores and discount stores sell complete basketball goal systems that are made by different manufacturers. Because of the number of competitors in the market, a manufacturer of basketball equipment is motivated to produce equipment that is of high quality, but sells at a competitive price. One significant factor contributing to the retail success and underlying consumer cost of a product is the amount of material required to package the product for delivery to the retailer or consumer. When a product requires a large amount of packaging material, the price of the product will proportionately increase and be passed on to the consumer.
Likewise the space required to ship and store a packaged product generally influences the ultimate cost to the consumer. If more space is required for storage, fewer units of the product can be shipped in a shipping container, thereby raising the per unit shipping cost. Thus, the price of the product may be increased when the product is packaged inefficiently.
Moreover, retail stores have a finite amount of floor or shelf space. For example, when a packaged product is large and bulky, the store may not be able to stock a large number of the product. Because the store can only stock fewer products as a result of its packaging bulk, the store may quickly deplete its inventory and thereby reduce the number of units sold. Moreover, a retailer may choose to stock a less bulky item in order to make the best use of its available space from a cost perspective.
A problem with most conventional basketball goal systems is that they do not lend themselves to efficient packaging. If a basketball goal system is shipped in a partially preassembled condition, one or more large, bulky boxes are usually needed. Moreover, because basketball goal systems have components that are generally irregularly shaped, a large amount of packaging materials such as cardboard, molded foam, foam pellets, shredded paper, and/or bubble sheets are needed to fill the various voids in the packaging container. This additional packing material may significantly add to the final cost of the product that is ultimately passed on to the consumer. Because prior art basketball goal systems are typically comprised of packaging that is bulky and somewhat cumbersome, only a limited number of units can be stored on retail outlet shelves or floors, which reduces the ultimate profitability of the basketball goal system.
To overcome the difficulty associated with shipping bulky basketball goal systems and goal support structures, many manufacturers tend to package the goal support structure of the basketball system in an unassembled state. The numerous pieces of an unassembled basketball goal support structure may be introduced into more compact packaging, requiring less bulky containers and a lesser amount of packaging material in an effort to reduce shipping cost and/or required storage space.
However, in addition to shipping costs and storage concerns, the success of a product in the retail market also depends on the ease of product assembly by the consumer. Thus, although some of the unassembled basketball goal support structures of the prior art may overcome many of the packaging, shipping and associated storage problems, additional difficulties may be created by shipping unassembled basketball goal support structures. For example, unassembled basketball goal support structures typically include many small component parts including, but not limited to, bolts, nuts, washers, fasteners and the like that can be easy to lose or misplace. These component parts may become lost during packaging, transit or after delivery to a consumer. The manufacturer may also fail to package all the necessary component parts with the basketball goal system, thereby permitting an inoperable system to be shipped and sold to a consumer.
Additionally, because the consumer may not be accustomed to assembling a complex basketball goal system, the multiple component parts of an unassembled goal support structure may be damaged during assembly, resulting in an inoperable or, more importantly, an unsafe basketball goal system. The assembly of prior art basketball goal support structures may also be difficult because some of the larger component parts, such as the backboard, the extending lever arms, the rim, etc., are typically heavy and not easily manipulated.
Furthermore, unassembled prior art basketball goal systems are often accompanied with a set of detailed assembly instructions. In many instances, these instructions are incomprehensible to the average consumer, causing the consumer to improperly assemble the basketball goal system, which may result in possible damage to the equipment and/or injury to one or more users. This is especially true in regards to the basketball goal support portion of the overall basketball goal system. Even with well-written instructions, the assembly of prior art unassembled goal support structures is generally labor intensive and time consuming. Special tools are also often required to assemble prior art goal support structures and, because many consumers do not have these tools, they must return to the store to buy them, or risk improperly assembling the basketball goal system. In this regard, it is of some marketing value to consumers for the manufacturer to be able to put “preassembled” or “partially preassembled” on the packaging material of the basketball goal system.